The Dickinson press., 1887-05-28
AN OLD LADY'S CUNNING.


nois, France, the family of La Briennc had
resided for ms ny generations After the
revolution they were greatly reduced, but
lived i'll the old chateau, positively refusing
to cast off their pride and engage i'll any oc-
cupation that might yield c!nolument.
Marguerite, one of the daughters, alienated
her family from her forever by marrying a
clerk i'll a mercantile house, and her name
was never mentioned by any member of the
family. But Margucritc's husband rose step
by step until he became Il partner in the firm.
and then planted himself i'll Paris, where he
rapidly acquired an immense fortune In
1Sti5 he retired from business and he md his
wifc-all their children having die,l-went to
reside near Rc,ns. In 1852 NJ Trevoux
died and his widow came into pose sion OF all
his estate, v"l':,.l ;t many mi iinlis ri francs.
A consultation was held an,.iy thu rela-
tives of Mime. TrevouX as to tn" Lest course
to pursue so rs to secure for Themselves her
wealth at her death. 1t was finally arranged
that Charles St. Dinan should go to Cham
pagne and see how the land lay. lie was to
take every means to preserve his iMroSnito,
and 10 return as soon rs possible with Il full
and accurate account of I'll :!:i:l:,> pertaining
to the widow, who was lsow Ncrging on -.
and III tho ordinary course Of nature could
not last long.
When Charles reached Reims he learned
that she was avaricions and :,r:,s,'ing and
tlat her only desire was to lio#.1l money and
t" live rs long rs possible She lived in gool
style, hut kept no company, an,l was seldom
visited by any OF" except her lawyer. Her
property, -, fac rs cou, he ;.srer,;incd. was
chiefly in rents ani stocks. though ti.r estate
OH which s" lived was worth probably 250,-
iGtO frames
Hero he began TO practice lis profession as
n physician. He called on n. .lu..n, Mmc.
TGrvolS's lawyer. ani consulted him rs to
snail property belonging to Mn,r rrrvoux
w.rirli lie thought of buying, ane! In which, of
course, the lawyer was Interested. lie spoke
tn the awyer rs though he hal a large sum If
money at Iii, command.
Il shall Stay l,"r" if there is any likelihood
of my succeeding hr said, 'a,rl if Iresolve
to stay will lazy This II :nr;.::."
Eo"', the lawyer lial ;;s,,e, three times as
much for ,hr h"'l~" and land II, ,!.ny yvcrf
worth, and Charles 81. D;lan =, u kmcw it,
but he was playing t, bold game, anl the
lawyers; good offices were necessary tn Iii,
SUCCESS
III could secure farce or four wealthy
patients s;l:l Charles. that would go {, very
great way toward .sllring to mc pros-
l@rity.
Tie lawyer acquiesc,l in this sentiment,
and it Didn't surprise Charles when. in t!"
co;;I'S" OF Il week, h.. WAS summoned to pre-
scribe for Nine 'rrevolS. This was what lie
':i;S aiming at ;.il along. He WAS Very sue
ceS,tul III building up til" old lady, who
wa, in utter ignorance of hi, relationship TO
herself
''M;.'la,n." said lie. "you have a spl,niil
,t,,t.
advice You may live foy llany, nlamv years.
have no III station in SAYING That | can i'll
s,lrr twenty ulo:e years of life for Il ccy-
talnty. though, of course, YOU may live much
longer"
The old lady was greatly pleased with thi,
kind Of talk, and til" result was thai Dr. ST.
Dnan was Il daily visitor at her residence,
mud. hriEg allie 10 furnish l,r with marv
nnti,lotrS to growing lrolrness which were
l;rt known To the Old fashioned doctor who
had lncvi",lsi: ;.t;r:H'!'Yi her, he soon oh
tanned great ilitlu"'r" uyrr inl.
If the remarkable incidents wl,icl, follow
had not been brought to light il, roui, nf
iusti,e thy would have been Incredible
81. Dinan soon spent most of his ti.i, "a, the
chateau. and w;lS freely consulted tv Nine
Tr"vouS on business n;ll other matters
besides her health. She ,:;i4 n wontl, rruliv
ali" and a'utr woman. and somewhat
n>t"nshc,l St Dinan w..l her ready wit and
canning. He l:am,llc,! lar With GREAT iu,i.-
n!rnt. E"woNcr, and in 'liI" tim" began ta put.
in operation those plans which he had lon-
before formed.
Her val'ial,les were >'o"c,l away in n large
closet i'll her bed room, alnl tl;S she always
kept locked. st. Dinan resolved to possess
himself, as Il first step. of some j.wclry which
Ii" knew she possessed. First Of all, he in
'luccd her 10 remove her bed into an nd Join
ing room. rs it had better vnnl.ln,i,n, at the
same time showing her that Tie cnlinrt.iin.
door coil,! u" open, and that ali her property
would he rs s,l" as though in the room where
She slept
One day lie brought 81 snail portmantcau
into her parlor and lr-gol The use Of her
keys, as he spi.l Ii. had lost the one to the
1ortmantrlil. II" managed to take an i'm
preston i'll WAX OF III" key To the outer door of
the room which She had formerly slept in,
and of the key Of the closet
On the morning preceding his intended
rail on the closet ' il: ;sn ingredient in the
oil la'iy' me'. "a l:.als' her sleep so,mllv
Instead ot l":.Ylii:, the ciatrall, he sccrctct
himself in tl:c library, and. when all was still
wentup st;ir> and l~t"a"tl at the old laGy's
ned r"oin '!''ol He nn!ocl>n,l the door of the
adjacent r"o!n with tiic duplicate key. and
entered. n faint light was burning in the
be, room, sufficient TO ;l" him see what lie
was about.
While h. was standing in the middle of tl!"
room in :; listening attitulr h" heard a noise
which indica'~; that Nm" 'ir~voux was
arising from bed llr hastily Lid himself he
hind ;hs vi!;i."N curis,if;. ;Iln next mo-
n"nt Mnr. l.ev"uS. in iio:' l;stt d.cs>,
Stkrl into til" lopi.l Wit. II llurli Of KEYS in
her hand She ;ici!t straight TO th" cl,ssn;
opened ii and runn!as" about Then She
l,f"i;.ht forth n large leathei1i cas-. Laying
it "a" tho ilvo' IA" ro locke" tr door AMI lift
ing tn" r'S, r,turnr'l to lsr room II. Dinan
heard her get into bed, and all was silent
.'fter waiting for about tea minutes -.
Einm stepped cautiously toward the bel and
p,.icl N ;i. ".,',,; AM; There. was no doubt
that sh isslptl, ami by her side la: tie
leatllclr r,.>. st Hinan was then satisfied
tl;tt Sic llal walked in her sleep lml still
unlcr the effects of tho powerful sopori!r
which lie liati given ei,.
He Gntte,l the room a,d left the chateau
by n privat" ln,r Which l.l Into the gardens
When H. reached bone he opened the csl.,o.
which WAS simply clasped. and found it
empty. E"yt day. on visiting MN. Ire
voux. hc found hr in I; STATE Of great her
vous prnstration. sly. told him that ilc pre-
vious night sh" had ,ir".'ne'l that some one
was robi'ing her anl iIiat she must have
arisen in her sleep and procured a certain
leather case in which she had large sum of f
money and notes. lNi"l She awo!.r in the
morning she found the bundle of notes living
III the bed beside her. but the caSc was gone
On examining the place whore she usually
kept it, it was rot There
st. binan expressad great surprise, but adj
vlsed her to say nothing to any one about it,
for lie was afraid of her mentioning it to
Lawyer Jnson. whose suspicious might be
aroused
Almost month passed. before st. Dinan
venfurct on another attempt at robbery. 1t
was Nine irevouS's custom 10 keep her
sleeping apartment and ,llcs>ire, room under
lock anl key all til. time ;lnl l"vcr to let
domestic enter except in her presence.
During the day she spent her time in n small